Until recently, cruise lines took the view that casinos were just one more shipboard diversion for vacationing passengers. Most table games had relatively low betting limits -- which was just as well, since many of the people at the cruise ship casino tables had relatively low gaming skills.

But that has begun to change. Casinos of one type or another can now be found in more than half of the 50 U.S. states, and a rapidly growing number of Americans visit casinos with some frequency. The result: a rapidly growing base of players who also take cruises.

With the number of cruise ships also growing at a breathtaking pace, several cruise lines are now marketing to players interested both in the cruise experience, and willing (perhaps even eager) to spend a few hours a day in their casinos.

Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), and Royal Caribbean International are currently the leaders in reaching out to "high rollers." The casinos on their ships now are prepared to "rate" players, buy them drinks (believe it or not, until recently this was unheard of in cruise ship casinos), open tables with higher minimums and higher limits, and even comp all or part of cruises for serious players.

To help players who are interested in cruising keep track of the rapidly evolving cruise-casino seascape, and find cruise lines and cruise ships interested in reaching out to those with VIP privileges in land-based casinos, The Savvy Cruiser™ has created this Cruise Casinos guide.

At our original site, www.Savvy-Cruiser.com, we provide tips and advice for people hooked on cruising. Now, this guide provides useful information and advice for the growing universe of cruise casino players.

We greatly welcome reports from VIP players updating, supplementing and even correcting the information contained in the Cruise Casino guide. We ask only that you include your date of sailing, name and email address for verification purposes. We also invite cruisers to vote in our monthly Cruise Casino Players Poll. Highlights from the previous month's poll will appear below.

Happy sailing (and good luck in the cruise casino).

-The Savvy Cruiser